


But lovers hold on (to everything)

by immcrtal



Series: time doesn't love you anymore [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, this is just a big load of angst and bad time travel knowledge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 12:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16661463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immcrtal/pseuds/immcrtal
Summary: “What’s so funny?” He asks.“Flirting with someone that- that isn’t your wife.” She says her voice lowering. And in a second he’s in front of her cupping her chin in a way that obliges her to look at him.“But you are my wife, through time, space and the multiverse you are my wife.”





	But lovers hold on (to everything)

**Author's Note:**

> title from figure 8 by ellie goulding

As she steps out of the breach, Iris is hit with nostalgia. She fixes the meta gun over her back as she takes it all in. Everything looks so different, everything feels so different. Her eyes survey the cortex, its vibrant, everything feels newer, younger, which is normal seeing how her S.T.A.R Labs is about 20 years older. 

Her feet move against her will as she makes her way to the seat behind the comms operator. Her fingers glide over the console, the keyboard and her mic and she wants to cry, all of it makes her think about him, _oh how she misses him_. She quickly brushes off her tears reminding herself this is about _Nora_ , and getting her back to _their_ time. 

It’s taken them a while to figure out where she was exactly, but she, Wally and Cisco figured it out after Donovan finally caved in and told them what Nora was trying to do. Iris knows some of her daughter’s actions are due to her coldness on the subject of her husband, and the father of her children but how can one speak on something that brings them nothing but pain? It hurts to talk about him, to think about him, it hurts. 

She knows though that everything she has done was for the best of her children no matter how much anger Nora felt, no matter the fact that Nora might never forgive her, Iris knew that in the end it would be for a better future. 

After snapping out of her thoughts she moves slowly and quietly down the hallway looking for signs of Nora. As she turns at a corner she stops at the sound of Nora’s laughter. Her hand goes slowly up to her gun, Iris pushes herself against the wall to hide when she sees herself, her younger self, beside Nora, arm around her shoulder talking about an old case. They were both smiling, and Nora wasn’t throwing daggers at her, younger Iris that is. 

Seeing her daughter happy, and herself, and both of them not having a bunch unsaid thoughts between them, _it was- it was-_

 _It was too much, this was a terrible idea, she should have just waited for Nora-_ she thinks as she starts walking back to the cortex still hearing her younger self and her daughter talking about going to Big Belly’s. She’s too deep in her thoughts to notice the tall lean figure that’s been missing and that she wanted to avoid. 

* * *

Both of his hands anchor her by clutching her shoulders. “Iris” he says with disbelief. 

He sounds _so young_. So alive. She pulls herself away from him and bolts towards the cortex knowing full well he has super speed.

* * *

He doesn’t use his super speed though, seeing how she gets there before him. She’s standing in front of his suit admiring it, remembering the feel of it against her finger tips as she peeled it slowly off of him during one of their rooftop _games_. 

* * *

His footsteps come and echo through the cortex. “Iris.” He says. 

And god it’s been so long. She doesn’t allow herself to turn back though because it’ll make it real, make it open up the wound she’s been trying to close for more than a decade, but she also can’t bring herself to contact Cisco or Wally so they can breach her back, so she stands still anchored to this time, _to him._  

She feels his eyes burning holes through the back of her head but she doesn’t move. Slowly, she hears him make his way towards her and then finally turn her body towards him. 

* * *

And he’s _so_ young, _so_ radiant, _so_ beautiful and _god what does she look like it’s been a lifetime since he’s since her in the future and she has wrinkles and her hair is not exactly full of life and-_ “You’re beautiful.” 

She laughs through the tears she didn’t know she had in her eyes until they spilled on her cheeks. 

_Because of course he would say that._

She turns her head again, avoiding his gaze. But he doesn’t let her go that easy. “What’s so funny?” He asks.

“Flirting with someone that- that isn’t your wife.” She says her voice lowering. And in a second he’s in front of her cupping her chin in a way that obliges her to look at him.

“But _you are_ my wife, through time, space and the multiverse _you are my wife._ ” 

And she laughs out loud at that. 

“I’ve missed your hopeless romantic quotes.” And suddenly the air surrounding them changes. “I’m sorry for- everything. You don’t deserve this-“ He says as he drops his head onto her shoulder and lets some of his own tears fall.

“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t _choose_ to disappear it was fate, it’s _your_ destiny. You couldn’t escape it trust me, we tried, so much.” Her hands unconsciously move to his neck, her fingers slowly creeping into his hair, and they both breathe each other in. After a while, she slowly pulls back and coughs. “I- I should probably leave with- no never mind.” 

And it clicks for him. His eyes meet hers. “You were here to take back Nora right?” 

“Yeah but what’s the point? She has her dad here, her and her mother are finally bonding? She’s happy and it changes everything, Barry, there’s no use in bringing her back now, if she wants to come back she’ll come back, _on her own_.” 

“I have to go, coming here was risky but seeing you again- it was _a mistake_ we- I can’t keep messing with the timeline.” She adds as she reaches into her pocket to click the button that’ll signal Cisco and Wally to breach her back.

“It wasn’t a mistake if I got to see you again.” He says as he moves back towards her, in her space. He cups her face and she knows he’s not the Barry she sees before the disappearance but she can’t help but lean into his touch. 

She knows he can't mean it when he hasn't even felt it, when he doesn't even know how hard the future has been for everyone, but she also knows that the speedforce runs through his veins, (through her veins too, as he explained it to her once while they were in bed naked chests covered in sheets, his fingers slowly brushing the veins in her hands, her wrists, "You are my lightning rod, Iris, there is as much lightning coursing through your veins, as there is in mine.")

He's connected to it, it's an infinite source of energy and knowledge on things that she couldn't even begin to explain, so she knows that he can feel himself slowly slipping into the inevitable future.

“I’m sorry for the pain I caused you, and for the rift I created between Nora and you. I love you, and I always will.” And he finally does the thing she was dreading and secretly hoping for, he kisses her. 

As tears stream down her face, she finally presses the button. Before she leaves, she looks at him and whispers _I love you too_. As the breach starts closing she sees him internally fighting himself to not speed in and grab her. 

* * *

When she’s back home in _her time_ she tells herself that at least she got to properly tell him **‘I love you** ’ _this_ time. 


End file.
